Fires of Hell
by THEBanana316
Summary: Aislin dreams of the future, Sera of the past. When they meet, will both learn to live in the present? Rated T for some destructive violence, X-Men style.
1. Future

_I scream into the sky. Something explodes behind me. The tracks of tears on my face pull at my skin, dry from the heat. My heart thumps hard in my chest. I turn. Fire is everywhere, engulfing the city. Flames I have created. I had hoped to burn as well, but the fire can't touch me. I am its master - and its slave._

* * *

I wake up sweating. My black-brown hair sticks to my back and face. Tears I didn't know I cried have dried as a crusty, salty mess. I slide my knees slowly to my chest. The dream is the same every night - I haven't slept well in weeks. Time passes as I wait there in the dark, I don't know how long.

*BEEP BEEP BEEP*

I jump, but it's just the clock. Even so, it's unnerving. I turn and stop the alarm. 5:30. Time to get up. I sigh and step out of bed, leaving the blankets in a crumpled heap. _'I'll make the bed later.'_ I rummage through the closet for some fresh clothes, take a quick shower, but today, I can't forget my dream. I've memorized it now, every moment.

It's always the same. I'm standing in an alley. I haven't slept in days. I'm angry, frightened... Whoever I am, in this dream, I'm being hunted, hated. The reason becomes obvious when I burn Manhattan to the ground. I shake my head and grab my keys. _'I've lost too much time over this.'_ I hurry out of the apartment complex and down the steps.

"Up early again, Aislin," says a voice behind me. I look over my shoulder. "No earlier than usual, Rey." He says the same stupid line every morning, but I don't mind. The guy's nearly 80, and nobody ever comes to visit him. I'd do almost anything for conversation if that were me.

"Are you doing all right this morning?" I ask as I walk. "Oh, the same as ever," he replies quietly, like he always does. "Drive safely." He looks vaguely up the street. "Thanks," I say, but he's not listening now. I climb onto my old 10-speed and pedal off to work. By the time I get there, I have a splitting headache from trying to stop thinking so much. I manage to avoid talking to anyone on the way to my workspace, but there's nothing in my desk for the pain.

I curse silently. I'll just have to muscle through. I clear a space at the desk and open my laptop. Twenty minutes later, I'm still staring at the same message on the screen. I lay on the desk. I can't focus. It's not the headache, I've dealt with _that _problem before. I just can't get that weird dream out of my head today. _"It's nothing,"_ I whisper to myself, but it doesn't help this time. It feels too real now. I glance at the clock on my laptop. 7:04, it says. Not even an hour since I got here, but it feels like forever. I sit up and force myself to work.


	2. Past

I was seven years old when they found out. When they discovered that I was a mutant. I frightened them. The two people I loved most in the world, who had given me life, threw me aside because they were afraid. They couldn't see that I was, too. They didn't want to.

I suppose they were right to fear me. I'm 'a danger to those around me', that's what they say. So someone out there made sure there was nobody around me.

I'm 18 now, by my estimation. I've been locked in this dark room for years. The only faces I see are covered by masks - I barely remember what people look like. And I'm still so afraid.

But I need something, badly. I have to see the sky again. And I've finally decided, I'll do whatever it takes to get out of here. Even though I'm afraid of those men in the masks. And of myself. But if they fear me, I can get past them and into the light.

* * *

The time has finally come. I have a plan - vague, at best, but it's something. I crouch by the door - which I know by the slight rise in temperature around it. Then I wait. Hours pass, but I don't mind. I've waited a long time already.

The masked men come in again, to run their weird tests. I don't know what they think they'll learn, after this long poking needles in the same person day after day. "Sera?" one of them asks into the gloom, trying to find me. I don't answer, opting to trip the last one as he comes in the door, then step over him, rushing into the corridor.

That's as far as my plan went. I didn't know what was out here. How could I? All I note is that I expected more light. The corridor is dim, but brighter than my room. The light hurts my eyes a little. I run where instinct takes me, a labyrinth of twists and turns. Someone is chasing me. They're faster than I am, having moved for so little of my life.

If I don't do something, they're going to catch me.

_'Please, stop!'_ I cry out in my mind. The man behind me screams in pain and terror. My back feels warm, and the corridor is bright for several feet. I wince.

Another man jumps out from a hall in front. I jump back, and he is suddenly red, and orange, and terrible. The two behind him cry out as flames catch them as well. I take another route that feels right, and suddenly, there is an exit a little way ahead of me. Three guards, armed with tranquilizers, block the door. One calls to me. "Stand down and you won't be hurt!" I look between his gun and his face, then step back, nervous. The man from my room comes up from behind and puts a hand on my shoulder. I pull away violently and whirl to face him.

"Sera," he says gently. He's not wearing a mask. I realize that nobody chasing me was. "Come back to your room. This is too much excitement..." He reaches for my hand. I panic. "Get away!" I yell. The first words I've spoken to someone else in years. I gave up attempting conversation with them long ago. I slowly back away, but he keeps coming. I scream, and the man stops, shocked, fearful. Then he bursts into flames, just like the others. He claws at the air, his cries choking in his throat, as I turn back toward the distant entrance.

The men by the door raise their tranquilizer guns threateningly. I just run faster. There's no turning back now. After what happened today, if they catch me, I'm gone. Dead. Nobody will even know I existed. _'Whatever that fire was, help! Please...'_ Two of the men drop to one knee, grimacing, then howling as a spark from nowhere ingnites them. The other one takes off running. I see his face as we brush past each other. He's young. Frightened. I let him go. My power does - I have no control over it. The guards fire. Somehow, they miss, and I'm up against the cold steel of the door. It's locked, of course.

The men lay still and quiet after a few minutes. Neither of them could shoot again. Somehow I find a way out - I have a keycard from somewhere, probably one of _them_. Then the door is open, and I run out into the blinding light.


End file.
